Old Fitzgerald’s 1849 8 Year

Review by: TOModera

Alright, time to get back to Earth on my bourbon reviews, and do something not so… out there or special or some such silliness. Thanks to calzeta for the dram!

And today, for this review, we have a wheater. Much beloved by Dave Broom and Jim Murray (in the past), Old Fitzgerald 1849 is bottled by Heaven Hills distillers, aged for 8 years. It was Pappy Van Winkle himself who bought the brand, and replaced the rye in the original mashbill with wheat.

And thus, a legend was born.

Well, not really, but it sounds pretty cool when I say that. It’s not really THAT special, there are other Wheaters. However this also is different as it is charcoal filtered with maple charcoal.

That’s at least something different. Granted I don’t really know what it does, yet I’m guessing they do it for a reason. I mean, burning a ton of maple and pouring your booze for it for nothing would be silly.

Or a religious ceremony… None the less, let’s see how I enjoy this everyday wheater of lore. Will the Bards of Bardstown sing of this one, or are Bards basically out of work since the invention of radio?

We may never know (we completely do)

Distillery: Heaven Hill Distillery.

Bottler: Distillery Bottling.

Region: Kentucky.

ABV: 45%.

Age: 8 years.

Cask type: Charred American Oak Barrels.

Price: N/A.

Color: Burnt gold.

Nose: Smoke, brown sugar, pencil shavings, lemon rind

Starts out interesting, and then… just kinda ends up woody with acid. Nothing too amazing here.

Woody with Acid… I think I know what I want to see in the next Toy Story.

Taste: Corn, sugar, ginger, grapefruit

It’s quite sweet with a little spice, however I had this during Thanksgiving while cooking, so the ginger could be from somewhere else (though I did drink water to cleanse that thing in my mouth I can’t spell).

Has a tart note, which is nice. Granted, anything is nice when you’re looking for anything new.

Finish: Caramel, allspice/ginger, club soda, fake cherry

Nope, the spice is definitely there. Granted so is a general, smooth finish. It’s nice to sit back and sip, however from a review standpoint: Boring. And fake. Like those really attractive people you meet that never really developed a personality. Just looks.

Conclusion: This isn’t that special at all. The bards would fart twice and people would know everything about it.

The pros of this one is that it’s smooth, probably mixes well, and has a nice tart flavour. The cons? It’s nothing special. Not spit out your drink nothing special, more so “meh” nothing special. There’s better our there. Including the 12 year, which I actually found interesting.

Final Score: 66.

Scoring Legend:

  • 95-100: As good as it gets. Jaw-dropping, eye-widening, unforgettable whisky.
  • 90-94: Sublime, a personal favorite in its category.
  • 85-89: Excellent, a standout dram.
  • 80-84: Quite good. Quality stuff.
  • 75-79: Decent whisky worth tasting.
  • 70-74: Meh. It’s definitely drinkable, but it can do better.
  • 60-69: Not so good. I might not turn down a glass if I needed a drink.
  • 50-59: Save it for mixing.
  • 0-49: Blech.

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